Jacob's comments
(member since Jan 20, 2009)
Jacob's comments from the Short Story lovers group.
(showing 1-7 of 7)
I read this story (with the rest of The Lottery and Other Stories, which is a fantastic collection) back in January, so I don't think I need to refresh my memory. Like Jennifer said, it's a wonderfully written story and the language fits perfectly.
However, unlike Jennifer, I didn't read this story in school--I first read "The Lottery" last autumn, after hearing about it from various sources ever the years; The Waste Lands (Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King comes to mind. So I knew about "The Lottery" already, and I knew how it ends, so despite the cold terror of the ending, it still felt a bit diminished. I wish I had read this in high school, instead of finding out five years too late that I should have read it in high school. Did anyone else have this problem?
You were right about Pancake; his stories were fantastic.
Have you read The Stories of J. F. Powers?
This is another amazing collection. I've only read a handful of stories so far, but it's already become a favorite. Every story contains some of the best writing I've seen anywhere, period.
Andrew wrote: "Rust and Bone is a pretty good collection, but it's one to take in small doses."
Yeah, I just read "A Mean Utility," and now I know exactly what you mean!
Alan wrote: "Yeh - The Pugilist at Rest. Great. For some reason I only gave it 4 stars on here, but I'll change that to 5's. I give a lot of 5s but then I seek out the best."
Check out "Cold Snap" and "Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine" --also quite good. I think I gave them all 4 stars, but I read them a few years ago and probably judged them differently. Anyway, they're becoming increasingly harder to find these days--probably close to going out of print, if not already. And he hasn't published anything new in ten years. Of course, there's only so much you can write about Vietnam and boxing before it gets old, but still, it makes me sad...
I've been taking it in small doses (a few of the reviews said to do just that), and the stories are turning out pretty good so far. Reminds me a bit of Thom Jones. You ever read Jones?
I used to read a bunch of stories at once, finish the collection in two or three sittings, but after breezing through five or six stories at once in "Knockemstiff" by Donald Ray Pollock, I sorta felt like curling up on the bathroom floor and dying (it's a fantastic collection, just...take it in small doses). So I changed my habits. Read a few here and there after that, but starting this year I've been reading one or two short stories per day, slowly working through my library of story collections (88 collections, 1600+ stories--I counted). Currently working on "The Lottery and Other Stories" by Shirley Jackson and "Rust and Bone" by Craig Davidson. Both quite good so far.
